Saturday, January 9, 2010

Abortion and Breast Cancer Link Confirmed

For years now, pro-lifers have been issuing warnings about the effects of abortion, both physical and psychological. One of those warnings was the dire one about the increased risk of breast cancer. Pro-choicers were infuriated by this and claimed that pro-lifers were using scare tactics to deter women from seeking abortions.

Despite numerous medical studies that did indicate there was indeed a link between abortion and an increased risk of developing breast cancer, this evidence was dismissed and even the Cancer Society, when contacted, told me that all the studies they had examined, indicated there was no increased risk for women.

Well, the view is changing. This past week, National Cancer Institute researcher Louise Brinton has reversed her professional opinion on this very issue.

Brinton was the chief organizer for the 2003 NCI "workshop" on "early reproductive events and breast cancer", a panel which reported that the lack of an ABC link had been "established"... since 2003, the NCI has firmly maintained the position that there is no ABC link; that the studies which had reported such a link were deemed unreliable... Now, in 2009, Brinton is on record reiterating findings of the ABC link and reporting them as “consistent” with earlier studies that found induced abortion to be a risk factor.

This is an honorable thing for a professional to do: to publicly reverse one's position and admit that one was wrong.

How great is the risk they are talking about? I have seen figures as high as 40%; in other words, women who have an induced abortion may increase their risk of breast cancer by as much as 40% over those who do not have an abortion.

WASHINGTON, DC, January 7, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – U.S. National Cancer Institute researcher Dr. Louise Brinton, who was the chief organizer of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) workshop in 2003 that persuaded women that it was “well established” that “abortion is not associated with increased breast cancer risk,” has reversed her position and now admits that abortion and oral contraceptives raise breast cancer risks.

An April 2009 study by Jessica Dolle et al. of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center examining the relationship between oral contraceptives (OCs) and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive form of breast cancer associated with high mortality, in women under age 45, contained an admission from Dr. Brinton and her colleagues that abortion raises breast cancer risk by 40%.

The study found that “a statistically significant 40% increased risk for women who have abortions” exists, and that a ” 270% increased risk of triple negative breast cancer (an aggressive form of breast cancer associated with high mortality) among those who used oral contraceptives while under age 18 and a 320% increased risk of triple negative breast cancer among recent users (within 1-5 years) of oral contraceptives,” also exists. - LifeSiteNews, Jan 7,2009

Here in Canada, a brave MP from Alberta, Maurice Vellacott has been advocating for more information to be given to women who are having abortions, information that reveals the risks that they may be incurring, breast cancer being one of those risks. Vellacott has been rebuked, mocked, and castigated by other members of parliament and by the general public for his alarmist statements. Now, it seems that the man is vindicated. For years he has been advocating against abortion, both on the grounds that it takes the life of an innocent human being and also on the grounds that it damages women psychologically and physically.

Gloria Galloway has written about Vellacott in the Globe and Mail on January 8 and concludes her article with the statement:

And trying to prevent abortions by scaring women with breast cancer would truly be wrong. But so too would be suppressing the risks of abortion or any medical procedure.

Fact: Pregnancy causes breast tissue to grow and mature into cancer-resistant, milk-producing cells. Abortion halts this process, and leaves women who choose abortion over childbirth with a greater number of cancer-vulnerable cells and a greater lifetime risk of breast cancer.

Fact: Since 1957, over 50 studies link abortion to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Fact: In the 1960's, before abortion was readily available, a Canadian woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer was 1 in 20. How the National Cancer Institute of Canada says it's 1 in 9.

ARE WOMEN BEING INFORMED?

Every fall, I see the thousands of men, women, and children participating in the Run for the Cure to raise money for breast cancer research. And breast cancer is one of those diseases that has obtained great public awareness, with the attendant good medical response to women who find themselves diagnosed with suspected breast cancer. This is all well and good and such research should continue. Women should be given this care, but at the same time, women need to be told that they run a very high risk of developing breast cancer if they choose induced abortion.

And the cost of treating someone for breast cancer is extremely high, much higher than the cost of taking someone through a pregnancy and seeing that their child is delivered safe and sound. Not to mention the fact that we lose those children who are so desperately needed in our aging population. Another dot to be connected on the issue of abortion; let's hope that those who are pro-choice, which includes the majority of our politicians, will have the courage to look at the facts and admit that women deserve to be told the truth.

4 comments:

I'm so glad you posted this, because I've been using the information in what I do.

Sadly, the result is usually the same: women don't care.

When I gave this information to someone the other day, the response was (and I quote): "Blah. I know the risks. This was useless."

Considering that the information I gave (concerning this new study) was brand new, she could not possibly have known these particular risks, and she obviously didn't read the information given to her because she would have thought twice if she had. Or would she have?

That is the sad reality in so many cases: they know the risks, but don't care. Having a child is, for whatever reason, a more frightening prospect to them.

I'm sure some women will think twice after reading about this new study, and that's why I'll continue to spread word of it, but so many women have the "it won't happen to ME" attitude: "Blah. I know the risks."

It's kind of like telling kids not to smoke, they really think that the worst won't happen to them. I think you are right, pregnancy is more frightening than the risk of cancer. It is so hard to see when one is in the middle of a crisis. All the more reason these girls need support.

I'm a 2-time bc survivor and thriver - and have been totally revived by a dvd i just found made for women with breast cancer called 'The Path of Wellness And Healing.' It's like an encyclopedia for breast cancer but it's also moving, inspiring, the whole nine. Every doctor from deepak Chopra to Dean Ornish is on it and every celeb bc survivor from Sheryl Crow to Melissa Ethridge. So awesome!!!

That's great news, glad to hear that you are well and thriving. Just last night, I sat next to a woman at a meeting and she told me all about her breast cancer treatment, she said her cancer was estrogen-related; she was diagnosed at 45. She has since completely changed her diet since she is convinced that food additives contribute to the plague of cancers we are seeing.